prepaid_data_sim_cardfandomcom-20200216-history
Gibraltar
'Basics' Tourists may not need an extra SIM card for this small territory, because Spanish antennas cover a major part of it and EEA SIM cards (including Spanish ones) roam in Gibraltar without a surcharge. But in some densely built-up areas of the town area and on the southern tip of the rock 3G/4G coverage is not reached from Spain. Although roaming with a Spanish SIM card is not surcharged, it is either at reduced bandwidth or takes up to an hour or longer to connect. So if you stay for longer, you may think of buying a local SIM card. Although Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory and part of the EU by virtue of the UK's EU membership, it's not part of the UK. That's why Gibraltarian networks' rules and policies differ from those of UK networks, in particular in respect of validity. Only one network operator remains on the air covering every part of the rock in 2G on 900 MHz and 1800 MHz and 3G on 2100 MHz. 4G/LTE has started on 800 (band 20) and 2600 (band 7) MHz bands to be added by 1800 MHz (band 3). * Gibtelecom ''' A second operator called Shine Mobile suspended its services in 2016. Gibraltar is a British overseas territory that used to belong to the European Union. Following a referendum in favour of leaving the EU held in 2016, the UK has left the EU at the end of January 2020, where from 2017 new international roaming rules are enforced. In most European countries you can now 'roam like at home' at domestic rates rather than excessive roaming rates. Brexit affects Gibraltar too. '''All UK and Gibraltar providers implemented EU roaming rules without surcharges in 2017 and will stick to these rules for a transitional period until 31st December of 2020. What happens from 2021 is still unclear and depends on future agreements of trade between the EU and the UK. Without an new agreement to be worked out, UK and Gibraltar providers are not required by law to obey EU roaming regulations from 2021 onward. European providers don't need to include the UK and Gibraltar in their surcharge-free roaming zone. The UK government has issued a new guidance warning that the guarantee of free mobile roaming across the EU, Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein will end from 01 January 2021. This date marks the end of the Brexit transition period. From 2021 you should check your provider carefully. You can't rely on Gibtelecom to stick to EU roaming rules and European providers to keep on roaming without surcharges in Gibraltar. It can be expected that from 2021 on some continental providers like those of neighbouring Spain may take Gibraltar out of their EU group and surcharge roaming similar to Switzerland. Gibtelecom This state-owned company remains the only mobile provider and has by far the best coverage around the rock. 4G/LTE started in 2016 on 800, 1800 and 2600 MHz (bands 3, 7 and 20) and is open for prepaid, if you have a new 4G enabled SIM card. 'Availability' The pay-as-you-go SIM card called 'Reload' is available from their Customer Service Centre in John Mackintosh Square and further two dozen outlets in the city: list for a whopping £25 which will all be credited to your account. Reload cards of £10 and £25 are widely available throughout town. Look for the sticker on stores saying “reload card”. To top-up by voucher, type: *101*#. To check credit, type *100#. You can also top-up online by credit card on their website. Validity The validity period of the account is 270 days from the date of your last recharge, after which any outstanding credit will be lost. You then have an extra month in which you will only be able to receive calls and replenish your account. If your account is not replenished, service will be lost for a further 90 days, after which the account will be disconnected resulting in the loss of your mobile number. During these 90 days service will be restricted, but can be restored by replenishing your account. 'Data feature packs' Default rate outside bundles and rate for overuse is £0.17 per MB. The following packages are available : (*) = 'unlimited' means this FUP: If your usage exceeds the limits applicable to the bundle 3 GB you will receive a notification and speed will be capped to 128 kbps once this threshold is exceeded. Then if 10 GB is reached a further reduction to 64 kbps is applied. For activation text code to 8100 or go online. Their FUP bans VoIP, continuous streaming, excessive downloading and p2p file sharing. Additional packs may be purchased and added to the existing period. To check data balance, text 'DATACHECK' to 8100 for free. EU roaming All allowances and packages can be used for roaming in all EU/EEA countries without surcharges at the domestic rate. More information * APN: www.gibtele.com * Website: http://www.gibtele.com Category:Country Category:Europe Category:2/20